Gerwyn Price and Gary Anderson were once the tensest rivalry on the PDC tour, and one 2018 final got physical enough that the organization opened a formal investigation. Things have cooled off since then, and today the two can share a stage without friction, but the contest on the oche has never really stopped. Here's how it started, how it played out, and where things stand between them now.
A former rugby player against a two-time world champion
Price is a former professional rugby player who took years to find his footing at the top of darts after switching codes. Anderson, on the other hand, was already a two-time PDC World Champion (2015, 2016) by the time Price turned pro. Their styles couldn't be more different: Anderson throws with a quiet, clipped rhythm, while Price plays to the crowd and feeds off the camera. That contrast, plus a few tense meetings in late 2017 and early 2018, is where this rivalry really began.
The 2018 Grand Slam final: the conflict boils over
At the 2018 Grand Slam of Darts final, Price beat Anderson 16–13 for his first major PDC title. The scoreline mattered less than what happened on stage: the two players stared each other down and traded words repeatedly, and at one point Anderson shoved Price at the oche. Afterward, Price told reporters Anderson "can't handle playing me. He just moans every time that I'm doing this, doing that. Concentrate on your own game." The PDC investigated, fining Price £21,500 with a three-month suspended ban, later reduced to around £11,500 on appeal, while Anderson received a formal warning for the shove but no further sanction, on the grounds that he had been provoked.
The 2021 World Championship final: the rivalry earns its place in history
Three years later, the two met again on the biggest stage in the sport. At the 2021 PDC World Darts Championship final, Price beat Anderson 7–3 to win his first world title, becoming the first-ever Welsh world champion and rising to world No. 1 the same night. The win put Price's "controversy player" reputation to rest for good, proving himself on the sport's biggest stage. For the full story of that final, see our recap of the 2021 World Darts Championship final.
Anderson's revenge, and the more recent scoreline
Price had the early edge in this rivalry, beating Anderson again in the 2019 Grand Slam of Darts quarterfinal on his way to that title. But Anderson didn't stay behind forever: at the Grand Slam of Darts group stage in November 2023, he beat Price 10–6, finally avenging that 2018 final, and he joked afterward that he was "about ready to retire," a much lighter mood than 2018. Since then, Price has had the upper hand again: at the 2025 Baltic Sea Darts Open final, he beat Anderson 8–3 for the title.
Off the oche: from confrontation to mutual respect
Their relationship off the stage has clearly eased in recent years. At the 2023 World Cup of Darts final, Price partnered with Jonny Clayton to represent Wales and beat Anderson and Peter Wright's Scotland 10–2 in Frankfurt. Veteran darts writer Ryan Conway later wrote that the two were seen laughing together at the trophy presentation, noting the former rivals now "enjoy a pleasant respect nowadays." Still, neither player talks much about the other in interviews, and as far as we can find, neither has ever publicly said they regretted or apologized for that 2018 clash.
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